Ending the Eridium
by Shadowbane2243
Summary: Maya has a problem, and so turns to the one person she knows with the kind of experience she needs. But will Lilith help her?
1. Siren's Curse

Maya took a deep breath, standing in front of Lilith's house. "Ok, you can do this." She stepped up to the door and knocked. After waiting several moments, she closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and knocked again.

"I'm coming, hang on!" Lilith opened the door. "Sup?"

Maya crossed her arms, looking down at her feet. "You mind if I come in for a bit? I need to talk about something."

"Sure. Come on in." Lilith opened the door wider, letting Maya pass through. Maya sat on the couch and folded her hands, but she soon began rubbing them together instead. Lilith sat down in a chair opposite her. "What's the matter?"

Maya sighed. "You know how Eridium made your powers a lot more… well, powerful?"

"Of course. I stopped using it though after Handsome Jack pumped me full of it though. My powers were going crazy. It wasn't easy getting off that stuff, let me tell you."

Maya hesitated, staring at her hands, clenching her tattooed hand. "I started using Eridium about a week after we found you."

Lilith nodded. "So how'd that work?"

"Well, my phaselock can kill almost anything short of a badass with Helios alone now."

"That's hot."

"I hope you're talking about how the Helios burns."

"Maybe. But still, that's good, right?"

"There's more though. If my Helios kills an enemy, they explode."

"…Ok, that's badass."

"Except for when I found that out. Zer0 and I were out on a mission. We just had to clear out a few bandits just outside town. Easy. We got to the last few, and I phaselocked one while shooting another in the head. Zer0 took care of the rest, and then sliced at the one I had phaselocked. The Helios finished him off and he exploded, like I said. But it hit Zer0."

"Impossible."

"I wish. It launched him into a storage container. Broke most of his ribs, and Dr. Zed says he's lucky his spine is in one piece."

"Have you tried controlling it?"

"Of course I have!" Maya yelled. "I'm not stupid! I went to the Circle of Slaughter with Axton and fought to keep him from getting hurt. But no matter what, he could always feel a burn when an enemy exploded. I've tried focusing positive thoughts on him, blocking him from my mind, focusing all my anger and frustration on just the enemy. That last one only made it worse."

"Then you have to stop using Eridium, or this will be permanent."

"I've tried." Maya was almost crying now. "But I can barely last a day without craving it again. Then when I start again it's even worse." She put her head in her hands, hating her powers for the umpteenth time that she could remember.

Lilith fought to keep from crying herself. She knew exactly what Maya was going through. Heck, she had spent 3 months trying to quit Eridium before she looked to Mordecai for help. She got up and sat next to Maya, putting her arm around her. "So why'd you come to me with this? Not Axton or Zer0"

Despite herself, Maya laughed. "Seriously? Axton would rant at me for ages before he'd even start listening, and I really don't need that right now. Zer0, I don't know if he could really help. We don't even actually know if he's human. Besides, I feel awful for what I did to him."

Lilith sighed. "Alright. I'll help."

Maya let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. "

"One thing though. If I'm going to help you, you have to stay here with me" Maya opened her mouth, but Lilith cut her off. "I have to be able to keep an eye on you so I know you aren't sneaking Eridium. This isn't anything against you. I tried the same thing for a while when Mordecai helped me out with my addiction."

Maya's eyebrows furrowed. "That's a bit creepy really."

"Oh come on, I'm pretty sure he has a bigger interest in his bird than girls."

"That's even creepier."

"That's not what I- know what? You're right, that's weird." The two sirens chuckled.

Maya sobered up again. "Any idea how long this is going to take?"

Now it was Lilith's turn to sigh. "Honestly, it could be anywhere from a week to a month I think."

Maya's eyes bulged. "A month?! How am I supposed to leave the guys on their own for a month?"

"They're big boys. They can take care of themselves."

"You don't know Sal. He's a maniac! He'd get himself killed in seconds if I wasn't covering him so often!"

"He can take a hit better than anyone!.. Except maybe Brick."

"Axton is too reliant on his turret."

"Have you seen that thing at full potential? It tore through most of the last wave of the Circle of Slaughter."

"But-"

"Zer0 can always use his Deception if he gets in trouble, Gaige's Deathtrap could probably take down the Warrior on his own, and I rarely see Krieg flinch from any kind of hit."

"So what, I'm not even needed by them?"

"No, you're one of a group of 6 badass vault hunters, each of which can tear apart nearly anything on the planet with their bare hands but who stick together anyway cause they started as a team and they see no reason to pull that apart."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Ok, stop flattering me already." She sighed. "Fine, I'll stay here. Now what?"

"Wanna grab some pizza? I'm starving."

Maya's eyebrows rose again. "Seriously? I meant what to do about my addiction!"

"Well, not much we can do until you start craving it again."

"I thought I had to stay in the house?"

"You only have to stay in the house so you can stay in my sight. I just have to be able to watch your ass."

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Both"

Maya threw her hands in the air. "Fine, let's go get pizza."

They stood up, and while they were walking to Moxxi's, Lilith called Axton on her Echo.

"Yeah?"

"WHO IS IT?"

"Seriously Sal? Do you always have to yell?"

"WHY NOT? GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT?"

Axton sighed. "No. Whaddya want Lilith?"

Lilith shook her head in wonder. How grown men could be so immature, she would never understand. "Maya's gonna be staying with me for a while" Maya glanced her way until Lilith mouthed "Axton" at her. She nodded and turned forward again.

"You sure you two don't need supervision?"

"I'm sure Axton."

"Alright. How long you gonna keep your girlfriend over there? Day or two? Or is this one of those one night stands?"

"Maya's right. You are obsessed with sex." Maya turned to her and mouthed "I told you so", then turned forward just in time to run into the doorframe of Moxxi's. Lilith snickered, and then answered "A week or two. A month at most. Just don't wait up for her. Go kill all the bandits you want."

"Alright. You girls have fun" he hung up, leaving the siren to shake her head.

"Hey Moxxi! Could we get a pizza over here?" She called across the room.

"Sure thing sugar. Be ready in a half hour."

"Should have called ahead" she mumbled, and then sat down across from Maya at a booth.

They sat in silence for a while until Maya broke it. "How… What did you end up going through when you were killing your addiction?"

Lilith was silent for a while. "I was shaky for a while. Like when you haven't eaten in a while. I felt really weak too. I'd get angry at almost anything, which was probably the hardest part for Mordy." She grinned a bit before it changed to a frown. "But the worst part for me was the nightmares. I'd see all sorts of horrible things. Handsome Jack torturing people, including me. Including my team. And yours." She paused for a bit, and then continued on, almost whispering, eyes shining. "I saw Roland die. Over and over again. Not just the way he really died. I saw him tortured, beaten, torn apart limb from limb. I even saw Jack dissecting him once. I saw monsters tearing through Sanctuary. I saw you guys getting mauled by them. And I couldn't do anything. Not because it was a dream. But because I was terrified. How could I stand up to these monsters if they could destroy all of that so quickly? So easily?" Tears fell from her eyes even as she fought to stop them.

Maya hesitated, then reached across and held Lilith's hand. "That's not going to happen. Look, whether legend or blatant threat, we've always managed to kill it. The Warrior, Jack, Terramorphous. None of them could stand up to us. We've never heard of anything bigger than Terramorphous. And if we ever do, we'll beat it. We always have."

Lilith smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"Pizza's done hon!"

"That was a short half hour" Lilith stood up and walked up to the bar.

"You and your lady friend having a good time?"

Lilith threw up her hands. "Why does everyone assume we're dating?"

"I never said that, did I now?"

"It was implied"

"Mhmm" Moxxi finished cutting up the pizza and folded up the box around it. "There ya go hon."

"Thanks Moxxi" Lilith tossed the cost on the bar before walking back to her booth with the pizza.

"Lilith, we need to get out of here."

"Why do you-oh shit. You're right." The sirens could both sense it. Someone nearby had Eridium, and a lot of it. The stood up and walked out, taking the pizza with them. Lilith followed behind Maya, and noticed her shiver. Lilith frowned. It wasn't even cold out. Heck, they were in the middle of the desert! It wasn't the cold causing the shivers. Lilith sighed and put one arm around Maya. _This is gonna be a long ass job._


	2. Two Minute Job

**{A/N} No real idea how long this story is going to go, kinda depends how much filler I can come up with between what I had planned right from the beginning. So if you enjoy the story, throw me some ideas and we can keep the chapters rolling.**

**Also, mild forewarning, gets a little bit gruesome here.**

Lilith walked back into the house after a talk with Tannis. It was the next morning, and she knew it wouldn't be possible to stay in the house all day, especially with an Eridium craving siren around. So she had looked around for a small job, something the two could get done by themselves. Maya had been sleeping when she left, and she doubted she had been gone long enough for Maya to try anything. She walked up the stairs to the room she had set up for Maya to find her still there sleeping. "Lazy ass." She muttered. Then she grinned, crouched down beside the bed so her face was right next to Maya's. "Rise and SHIIIINE!" she yelled the last part, resulting in Maya screaming, shooting upright, and falling off the small bed in a matter of seconds. Lilith stood up, laughing. "I'll go get some breakfast ready." Maya mumbled something in response, but Lilith didn't hear it over her own continued laughter. "Nice butt, by the way."

When Maya finally made it downstairs where Lilith was, she punched the elder siren. "Couldn't have found a nicer way to do it?"

"Well, I could have, but wouldn't have been as much fun." Lilith replied with a smirk. "Besides, I got a nice show at the same time." Maya started into her food as Lilith continued "Since we're going to be bored off our asses staying in here the whole time, I got us a small job to do to help pass the time. Tannis ordered some special grenades that she wanted to experiment on, but they got stolen by some bandits. We just have to get that back."

Maya swallowed, then asked "That's it? That's, like, a two minute job!"

"Yeah, well, not many jobs out here that need only two hunters."

"I think we can safely be called mercenaries until another Vault shows up."

"Yeah, but that just sounds so… boring."

"I think what we usually do makes up for the name." Maya finished her breakfast. "So where to?"

* * *

><p>"Hiya there cutie!" Ellie waved from inside her garage.<p>

"Hey Ellie." Lilith replied. "Tannis said you saw the bandits that stole her package?"

"Hard to miss 'em what with all that whoopin' and hollerin' they does. Went up to their camp on the mountain. Ya'll need one of Scooter's vehicles to ramp in."

"Done that before. Might as well just take one vehicle Lilith, they're useless once we're in."

Ellie rounded on Maya. "Did you just call a vehicle… useless?" Her voice was deadly as she was round.

Maya's eyes grew wide. "I-I-I meant that w-we wouldn't be able to drive in there, so there's no point in having an extra vehicle."

"No point to a vehicle?" Ellie's eyes had narrowed to slits now, and she was leaning towards Maya, making the whole situation that much more awkward.

"I-I mean, I-I guess the turret w-would work great, b-but the car would be stuck, s-so-"

"Maya, stop digging your own grave and get in the scooter."

Ellie blinked and straightened up. "Scooter? You call it a scooter?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

Ellie continued to stand, blinking. "But it has… 4 wheels… not 2."

"They belong to Scooter. Why not call them scooters?"

Ellie didn't respond, and eventually the siren duo simply drove off.

* * *

><p>They drove up the ramp into Goose's Roost, landing nicely in the middle of a clearing that was soon filled with bandits.<p>

"Well, master of explosions." Lilith nudged Maya. "Let's see what you can do."

Maya smirked, lifting her hand and capturing a badass in her sphere. She shot it once in the head, and it exploded, burning up several surrounding bandits. She made quick work of the few remainders, usually using a quick bullet to the head as they peeked around the various containers surrounding the area. The few times she missed or they dodged simply meant the bandit got a few bullets in the chest instead. She stood, gun extended, waiting for another bandit to appear, but none came. "See what I mean? This won't take long at all."

"You have the grenades yet?" Lilith asked. Maya shook her head. "Then stop complaining and keep that cute ass moving."

"I think I'm just gonna walk behind you, if you don't mind." Maya muttered.

"What, don't want to put on a show like this morning?"

"I was brought up in a monastery. Of course I don't."

"I thought all those years of being cooped up would make you want to let loose."

"Except I wouldn't have even known what you mean by a 'show' if you hadn't so aptly demonstrated it in front of half the town."

"I told you, it was an accident! I wasn't expecting my pants to rip like that!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

"And you blew up the scooter."

Maya waved her off "It was a rental."

They kept walking, tossing occasional glares at each other until they realized how childish it was and glared at the ground instead. A maniacal laugh brought both of their heads up to see a swarm of bandits coming towards them, with a massive man in rusty armor following behind, holding a shield that towered as high as he did. "Tear 'em apart and feed 'em to the crows!"

Maya glanced at Lilith. "He means Rakk, right?"

"Probably."

The bandits fired their first shots, absorbed by the sirens' shields. They dove behind cover and checked on their shields. These bandits were strong! Lilith dove over the container she was hid behind and phase-walked through most of the bandits until she reached the monster in the rear. She leapt up to his head and slammed her palm into it, but his energy shield absorbed the hit. He swung his physical shield, catching her in the side and sending her tumbling to the ground. Maya threw a grenade into the mob of bandits before attempting a phase-lock on the huge bandit, but it simply caused damage to him instead. His energy shield **still **hadn't broken! _Where did these guys come from?_ She shook her head, letting loose a clip from her SMG, pouring corrosive damage on the giant. Lilith pulled a shotgun from behind him and let loose her own clip, shock damage whittling away at his shield. He turned on her to slam her with his shield again, but she phase-walked and ran behind him again, hitting him again to finally break through his shield.

"You cannot break the Juggernaut!" He shouted, slamming the ground. The shockwave knocked Lilith away, shattering her shield as she slammed into a rock. He turned on her with what looked like a Gatling gun and let loose. She sprinted sideways, keeping just ahead of his bullets before she dove behind another container, waiting for her shield to regenerate. Maya was hiding as well, her shield only barely intact after taking out a small portion of the bandits. She threw another grenade around the corner and blasted away another pair, breaking the shields of a few others. Maya stood up and began firing at the bandits again, focusing on the ones without shields. Lilith glanced down as a "clunk" sounded behind her and saw a grenade there. She dove from her cover just as the grenade exploded, sending her to the ground with shrapnel embedded in her skin, burning away at her flesh.

"Lilith!"

"Judgement is brought down like meteors!" Juggernaut screamed as he unleashed another flurry of bullets at the downed siren, slowly walking towards her. Lilith was helpless and took several bullets before collapsing to the ground, motionless.

"Lilith!" Maya screamed again before rounding on Juggernaut. "You do not…" her arm burned like fire from the sun itself. "hurt…" the pain crawled up her arm, spreading through her chest and descending down her left leg. "LILITH!" Her entire body burned as she reached out and grasped the Juggernaut in a phase-lock, burning the bandits nearby. Maya charged into the other bandits, firing bullets faster than the Juggernaut's Gatling, melting nearby bandits with her aura of power. Juggernaut fell out of the phase-lock, then ran to a transport station nearby. Maya continued tearing apart the bandits, flicking out her hand to phase-lock Lilith. The siren rose to her feet, fire burning in her eyes.

She phase-walked towards the Juggernaut, leaping up to slam her fist into him again, unprotected by his shield. Before she could, however, he turned to her, grinning, before dropping another grenade and disappearing in a flash of code. The grenade exploded, not affecting her in her phased state, but destroying the station. She connected with the ground and turned to help Maya with the bandits, only to let her jaw drop in amazement.

Maya's phase-lock was jumping from one bandit to another, killing them the moment it connected, as well as several surrounding bandits, before moving to a new target. Maya herself was surrounded in a purplish aura as she charged through the bandits. The aura burned the bandits with green fire that sparked like lightning, tearing through shields, armor, and flesh nearly instantaneously. Near the edge of the fight, several bandits were firing their guns on each other, screaming nonsense. Within seconds, the bandit swarm became a small crowd before disappearing in a messy sea of bodies.

Maya stood, her aura fading, in the middle of the bandits. A circle of burnt ground surrounded her, and she glanced around at it before looking at Lilith. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground.

"Maya!" Lilith sprinted towards the siren, kneeling beside her and checking for a pulse. She found it easily enough, pumping fast as it was after the fight. She let out a sigh of relief, scooping up the siren and glancing around before remembering. Their scooter was destroyed. She hung her head, sighing. _Guess I'm walking then. _She glanced at the younger siren. _But how on earth did she do that?_

**{A/N} Have to say, this chapter was mostly made on the fly, so sorry for poor quality. Also, New-U stations don't exist here, or nothing would be all that scary. "Oh no, Mordecai died, let's wait for a few seconds so he can catch up." See what I mean? Follows, favorites, advice, compliments and rude remarks always appreciated… some more than others. Bane out! **


	3. Freak

**Been a while, sorry about that. Curve balls made life busy for a while. But here ya go!**

**This chapter is, again, gruesome. Then again, this is Borderlands, where you watch people's brains explode.**

Lilith sat on a chair in her living room, sipping from a glass of Rakk ale. Maya hadn't woken up since their run-in with the bandits, even though Lilith had had enough time to talk to Tannis about their failure. She took it well, more worried about Maya's condition than about the lost grenades. "More flies to flick, anyway" she had claimed. Whatever that meant.

Lilith stood to check on Maya again, worried about the amount of power she had used during the fight. She left the ale on the table, then continued to Maya's room. Opening it, she forced herself not to audibly gasp. Items were floating haphazardly around the room, surrounded in purple auras. She glanced at Maya to find her tattoos glowing slightly. Lilith stepped inside, reaching for a lamp floating past her. She felt heat on her hand from a few inches away, and decided to leave it. She moved closer to Maya, noting her head moving slightly and her eyes darting beneath her eyelids.

Lilith reached over, hovering her hand just above Maya's shoulder. Feeling no heat from the siren herself, she let her hand fall lightly on Maya, shaking her slightly. "Maya? Wake up."

Maya moaned slightly, her head turning. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooOOOOOOOAAAAAIII-" Maya screamed. She shot up, sending Lilith stumbling backwards before Maya grabbed her by the throat and pulled her closer. "YOU KILLED HER" she screeched, throwing Lilith into the hall through the open door.

* * *

><p>Maya was running, her mother beside her, holding her hand. They hadn't seen their pursuers in several minutes, but that didn't encourage them to slow down in the slightest. Maya fought to keep the tears from her eyes. <em>These tattoos. Will they ever stop getting us in trouble?<em> Ahead, lights peeked through the darkness; their destination. A monastery shrouded in myths and old wives' tales.

"I heard they keep monsters there, and feed them people that argue with their ideas." "I heard they used to be knights from the medieval age, but were granted immortality." "I heard they wear hoods so no one can see their fangs. They're vampires, you see." Not the ideal place for a mother and her girl, but everyone else had chased them off or tried to kill them. Schools, neighbors, police. All because of a few tattoos.

They finally reached the massive wooden doors, panting heavily. Maya's mother lifted a fist to bang on the door, but it opened before her fist could connect. There stood an old man in a grey robe, hood pulled down to reveal his full head of short white hair. _I always imagined they would all be bald_. "Come in. We've been expecting you." the man intoned in a low voice. He moved away from the door. Maya glanced at her mother as she stepped through the doors into a massive, arched hallway. _It seems… bigger on the inside._ "You have questions, I'm sure."

Maya's mother spoke up. "How did you know we were coming?"

"That is something I cannot convey to you. You see, we have several… abilities that we do not wish the public to be aware of. If they were, they would likely be far more afraid of us than they already are."

"May we hide here? We have nowhere else to go. Most other people would have already killed us if they were this close to her." Maya's eyes softened as she turned to her daughter. No one saw her the same as her mother, ever since she had learned her tattoos could glow, especially when she felt strong emotions. Then there was the first day she learned of her power.

* * *

><p>She walked through the halls of school with her best friend. She had seen the tattoos on her during their first gym class. She thought they were the coolest thing, but thought it was even more amazing that she was born with them. It was the best result Maya could dream of. Someone who didn't call her a freak for being born with tattoos! Then someone walked past, slapping her books from her hand.<p>

"Should get a better grip, ya blue bitch." He laughed, his henchmen following him as he passed by her.

"Just ignore them." Her friend muttered, leaning down to help Maya clean her books.

"Thanks Nate." Maya knelt down to help, turning her head to watch the bully saunter down the hall. She glanced up to see Nate making a circle with her hand, framing the bully. She squished her hand into a fist, then grinned. Maya laughed. "What's that for?"

"It's like I'm squishing them. Helps get rid of my anger. You try!"

Maya turned, the bully now standing by his locker, laughing with his buddies. She raised a tattooed hand, circling the boy. She imagined him being squished into a little ball as her hand closed. His knees rising up to his chest, arms curled around his head as he screamed, the purple ball glowing around him- wait, purple ball?

Her eyes widened. This wasn't her imagination, this was reality! The boy's screams drew the attention of several surrounding students, some of whom screamed, others ran. He dropped to the ground soon after, collapsing into an unconscious heap. A teacher rounded the corner.

"What happened here?" she asked.

"I dunno, we were just joking around, then suddenly he started floating and screaming. There was some weird ball around him, like he was glowing purple."

Maya looked down at her hands, then noticed her tattoo was glowing purple as well. She tried rubbing it off, but it was still there. Nate noticed, glancing between her tattoo and her face. "You did that?" Nate asked.

"I don't know. I just did what you said and-"

"Stay away from me." Maya's head shot up at Nate's words. "The tattoos were cool, but trapping people in spheres is just freaky. Everyone's right. You are a freak. Stay AWAY from me!" She screamed the last sentence, running down the hall.

Maya stared after her, then noticed the rest of the students glaring at her. She sprinted to the nearest exit, running all the way home, tears streaming the whole time.

* * *

><p>Maya felt tears threatening her eyes as she thought about her past. Her mother noticed, kneeling down and cupping her chin. "You don't have to worry honey. We'll be fine." She turned back to the monk. "May we stay here?"<p>

"Yes. We can grant you sanctuary. However, we will require work from you. Housekeeping, really."

"We'll pay you as well." Maya's mother said.

"No need. We very rarely use money, and the little we need we gain from certain… tasks the few brave people who visit asks of us."

Her mother sighed, turning to her. "She may not be able to do as much as I can, but she will help however she can."

"Yes." The monk replied, turning to her. If she had been a little older, she would have recognized the evil glint in his eyes. "We will find some use for her."

The world spun around her, eventually resolving into a place she visited often in her dreams. She was several years older, and had found the monks to be cruel taskmasters, often working them to exhaustion. But they would never find a place they would be properly accepted, so they dealt with what they had to. However, that changed when they began working on her powers. The first successful attempt was the one she continually had nightmares of.

"Let me go!" she screamed, fighting the ropes tied across her stomach to the chair she sat on. Her legs were tied to the legs of the chair, but her arms were left to swing freely. As such, the monks stood well back from her.

"This is your training, Maya." The original monk claimed. She had learned his name was Alan. "And you must succeed."

Maya stared across the room to her mother, tied more securely to a different chair, and unable to move. Another monk stepped towards her mother, pulling out a gleaming sword which he placed by her throat. "Leave her alone!" Maya yelled.

"Then save her." Alan replied. "Stop him from harming her. You know he will do it."

It was true. Several times, she had seen the monks kill a man they brought from nearby villages for something as simple as failing to pay a debt he owed. They were very rarely merciful about it, stretching his death for minutes, hours, and a month with one man.

"How? I don't even know what you're training me to do!"

"You attacked a bully once, did you not? Use your power as you did then." Alan said all this with a solemn, almost bored tone, as if this happened all the time.

Maya's mind raced, trying to think of how she had triggered that power. As she did, the monk holding her mother began sliding his sword along her throat, leaving a thin line of blood that began trickling down her neck. Maya sobbed, reaching out to her mother, unable to cross the gap between them.

She thought of her friend, Nate, and what she had said. _It's like I'm squishing them. Helps get rid of my anger. You try!_ She shifted her gaze to the monk beside her mother as he moved the sword away from her throat… and slashed it across.

"MOM!" Maya screamed again, pushing herself forward so she tipped her chair over, crawling towards her mother, blood pouring from the wound in her neck. Maya reached her mother, tipping her head up to see her closed eyes. "No, Mom. Don't leave me. Not now. Mom? No. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooOOOOOOOAAAAAIII-" She turned to the man who was still holding the sword, blood dripping from the tip.

"YOU KILLED HER!" She raised her hand, clenching her fist and sending the man into a purple orb, flames licking at his red hair, across his tank top spreading across his breasts… breasts? She gasped, releasing her hold on the phaselock and watching as Lilith dropped to the ground in front of her. "Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh, Lilith, are you alright?"

Lilith blinked several times, then coughed. "Wow." She rasped. "I see why Axton is so afraid of you now." She glanced at her clothes and her exposed arms. Holes were burnt through her clothes, and what skin wasn't half shrivelled on her arms had a deep red tint to it. "Nope. No way this is alright." She let her head fall back to the ground again. "You've just done what thousands of bandits have wanted to- Maya, why are you pointing that gun at me?"

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"Maya… Maya, that's a gun, don't-" She raised her arms protectively, ignoring the feeling of her burnt flesh tearing as three shots rang out. She blinked, lowering her arms. Maya was still pointing the gun at her, so she hadn't missed. She looked at her arms again, expecting to see holes torn through them that she couldn't feel through her burnt nerves. Instead, she found the burns quickly fading, replaced by her normal, pale skin. A cool feeling spread through her arms and face as she healed. "How…?"

"My bullets heal anyone I think of as an ally. I'm not sure how my powers manage to pull that one off, but I'm okay with it."

Lilith laughed at that one. "Me too. You alright though?"

Maya blinked. "Am I alright. Am I alright? Lilith, I nearly just killed you, and you wonder if I'm alright?!"

Lilith shrugged. "I've almost been killed several times. Besides, you were having a nightmare. I meant more mentally than physically alright."

Maya shook her head slightly in exasperation. "I'm fine. Just… remembering when my mom died." Maya glanced up, and seeing Lilith just looking at her, continued. "She was killed by the monks that had taken me in. Right in front of my eyes. It was their way of releasing my powers. Claimed it was 'necessary'." She couldn't see anymore, blinded by her tears. "I could have stopped them. I tried to use my powers, but it was too late. They slit her throat. The man that killed her didn't even change his expression. It was like she was just their toy, she could be thrown away whenever they wanted to."

Lilith was kneeling next to her now, holding her in a side-hug. "She didn't even get a proper funeral. She didn't get any sort of respect after she died. They just threw her to their drakons. They made me watch that too. It's like they enjoyed suffering." Maya let her head fall to her chest as she sobbed quietly, for the first time in years, decades even, for her mother.

Lilith sat beside her, holding her as she continued crying, saying nothing. She couldn't even think of anything to say. She had never cared for her parents. They had neglected her since birth, and after the first time she phasewalked, rejected her entirely. Sure, she had loved Roland, but that was so clearly different, it offered no help here. So she sat in silence, letting her presence alone console Maya.

Her sobbing eventually faded, becoming shaking breaths as she tried to calm down. Lilith chose this time to speak. "We should get you back to bed. You were already exhausted after the bandits." Maya simply nodded, letting Lilith help her to her bed.

Just before Lilith left, Maya spoke. "Lilith?" she turned around, eyebrows raised. "Can you… stay with me here tonight?"

Lilith's mind came up with a million different jokes she could make, but she fought them all down. _Another time, maybe_. "Okay." Maya moved over, making room for Lilith as she crawled into the sheets. Drifting off to sleep, Lilith had just one thought in her mind. _I damn well hope Axton doesn't see this._


End file.
